


Doing it All Together

by Alyson



Series: 101 Ways to Fall [14]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Divorce, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Grief/Mourning, Kids, Last two pairings barely make an appearance, Loss, Love after Loss, M/M, Mostly happy actually, Not a death fic, Post-Star Trek: Into Darkness, They're all parents, Widow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-13 06:01:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19595986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alyson/pseuds/Alyson
Summary: AU – NOT modern day.  It's the 23rd century but a different group of people are the best and brightest, manning the Enterprise and saving the universe.  Nyota Uhura, a divorced single mom, decided to start a single parent's support group for men after a very young Pavel Chekov joins her group of all women and she realizes he needs to see how other men parent on their own.  Very quickly, they're joined by Leonard, Spock, Hikaru and Scotty, some of the best friends Nyota has made and a reason to stay in the all men's group.  When a new arrival to San Francisco, Jim Kirk, joins, Leonard finds he has even more reason to be there than just styling everyone's little girls' hair.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I had a hard time tagging this. Enough time has passed that everyone is ready to move forward after the loss of their spouses, though it's only been almost a year. Assume therapy and good coping skills. Very loosely based on the TV show Single Parents. I seriously have only seen two episodes. So it's like that but with these people :). (Part of Chekov's premise very loosely based on Raising Hope.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated because I made a horrible mistake with Pavel's timeline. It no longer says he partied too hard after the Romulan incident, but after the Vengeance. That's the only change. No need to reread.

“I was right, it's a conspiracy!”

Nyota Uhura looked up from where she was teaching her three year old son Julian to tie his shoe and squinted at the man joining them. Hikaru Sulu and she had a lot in common on the outside: he also came from a Starfleet family but rejected the idea of following in anyone's footsteps; he had also recently gone through a divorce that left him a single parent; and he also had a three year old, in his case a daughter named Demora – but that's where it ended. Ever since his ex-wife, a Starfleet officer working in the Archives in London, had died in a terrorist attack, he was convinced that Starfleet, and the UFP in general, was full of secret departments and organizations. He had a new conspiracy almost everyday.

“OK, I'll bite,” she said, casting a look to the man sitting next to her. Leonard McCoy, widowed father of eight year old Joanna, was expertly braiding the little girl's hair in something resembling a fairy tale princess' up-do. He raised an eyebrow, showing he too was listening to the crazy, but didn't take his eyes off what he was doing.

“Remember the attack on the bay? The one that Starfleet claimed was a rouge group of Romulans, not associated with the Romulan Star Empire?”

“Yeeees?”

“They were from the future!” he announced dramatically. “My friend, Lewis...”

“Who we're not sure exists,” McCoy muttered.

“... he said he heard from a reliable source that these Romulans came from the future way back during the Kelvin incident! They may have even caused the Kelvin to be destroyed. But it's why they had the technological know-how to get past Earth's defenses!”

McCoy's scowl deepened as he tied off his daughter's hair and turned to the other man. Joanna turned as well, the scowl on her little face an exact replica of her father's.

“Now Hikaru, you listen, we don't mind your conspiracy theories,” he scolded in a low voice. “Matter of fact, I'm not sure if my day would be the same if I didn't hear one of your hair brained stories, but when the new guy gets here? No mention of the USS Kelvin.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, is it today he's coming?” he asked, properly chagrined, sitting on a bench next to a very quiet curly haired younger man.

“Yeah, he and his little boy, David, should be here any time now.”

“Don't worry, I have plenty of news that doesn't involve the Kelvin,” Hikaru assured them, then turned to look at the boy next to him. “Pavel? I think Petra has a dirty diaper.”

Pavel Chekov suddenly snapped to attention and peered into the double stroller at the two six week old girls, a look of terror on his face. He turned back to Hikaru, equal parts scared and guilty.

“Which one's Petra?” he asked in a small voice.

The other adults in the group looked at him with sympathy and Hikaru picked up the correct baby and handed her over to her young father. He picked up the other, Piper, as well and cradled her while he watched over the younger man. Demora, meanwhile, had taken her usual position in front of Leonard to also have her hair done. Left up to Hikaru, she'd walk around with a ponytail on top of her head for the rest of her life.

Pavel had become a father at the age of nineteen without meaning to. He had actually been a Starfleet officer, unlike the rest of them despite their family histories or, in McCoy's case, nearly signing up one night while drunk shortly after his beloved Jocelyn died. He was a genius, one of the youngest officers in the 'fleet, the youngest aboard the flagship, the Enterprise; but after the Enterprise had stopped a rogue Starfleet officer after he had crashed the Vengeance into San Francisco, he had partied a little too hard, sought comfort in arms he shouldn't have and ended up a father to twin girls while the mother went down for murdering her roommate in a fit of rage before she had even given birth.

He could have given them up for adoption, gone out into deep space, and never gave them a second thought, but the young man who had been an orphan himself couldn't face doing that. He had given up a promising career to raise his babies, swearing he'd give his girls the best life he could. Then promptly had a nervous breakdown.

He was the reason Nyota had started the group. After she and Matt had divorced and she found herself alone with a young boy most of the time, she had joined a group for single parents. They were a wonderful, well rounded, group of women and she had enjoyed herself immensely. Then, a concerned social worker who had been assigned to help Pavel learn the skills to take care of the twins by himself, had brought him in, hoping they could bring him out of the near catatonic shell he found himself in when the girls weren't crying for him. They tried, but Ny had noticed that he just wasn't connecting with the other women.

She started another group, one for men who were single fathers, who had primary, or residential, custody of their children for whatever reason. Leonard had been the first to join and she was sure he would be the one she turned it over to once everyone settled in so she could return to her women's group full time. However, she found herself making deeper connections to these men than she had to the women in her group, so she stayed. Her old friends still loved it when she went out with them for girls' night and her new ones wouldn't hear of her leaving them, regardless of her gender.

Like McCoy had said, 'Damn it, Ny, we need you.'

The man with the struggling four year old approaching them had also been a big influence on her staying.

Spock was the only non Human in the group, but he was half Human and his daughter, T'Laura, also had a Human mother just like him and so despite the mixed Human/Vulcan name, she looked more like her mother. Her light brown hair fell is soft curls around her face and shoulders, her ears were only slightly pointed and her eyebrows curved in an arch. She was a beautiful child, and a source of endless consternation for her father who gratefully put her down and let her run, with a shout of 'Leo!', to the man who had just finished up Demora's hair.

“Holy,” Leonard started when he saw the back of her hair, then edited what he was about to say and gave Spock a wide eyed look. “Spock, it's only been the weekend since I last saw you two. What happened? It's a tangled mess back here.”

Spock sat down next to his friend and didn't pout. That had been a hard won friendship. The two men had clashed at first, the one raised on Vulcan still sticking to a philosophy of suppressed emotions and logic despite having agreed with his ex-wife that they would raise their daughter Human since she was mostly Human and Spock would be raising her on Earth while her mother, Emily, was working with a research team on the old moon colony. They had quickly found common ground, however, with Spock a biological research scientist and McCoy a medical research scientist in buildings right next to each other in San Francisco's largest civilian research complex.

He also had found McCoy to be a sympathetic ear when it came to dealing with a headstrong child. T'Laura was only with her mother one weekend a month, something that while necessary, was hard for the child to understand. Little girls acting out was no stranger to Leonard. His own daughter had gone through a phase that had been rough on both of them when Jocelyn had died. They had both lost their hearts the day the Vengeance had crashed into San Francisco. She had been having coffee with friends that afternoon, and they had been right in its path.

“She had gum,” he confessed.

“Where did she get gum? I thought you said you didn't let her chew gum?”

“I do not. Her grandfather, however, is far more indulgent with her than he ever was with me. I used peanut butter to get it out.”

“Yeah, grandparents are a pain in the ass.”

“Dad!”

“Sorry, Jojo,” McCoy smiled, not the least bit sorry, but trying to behave for the kids present. “And I take it it was rough getting the peanut butter out, too?”

“Indeed. I really needed to wash it a second time and use the conditioner, but she had had enough of bath time after the first washing and proceeded to soak the entire bathroom, myself included. I admit I lost my patience and decided it was best for both of us if her hair air dried while she played in her room and I meditated.”

“Yeah, we can deal with some bad tangles,” Leonard agreed. “You two taking a time out was the best choice. Next time try ice. It freezes the gum and makes it easier to pull out without leaving a residue you have to work to get out afterwards.”

Spock nodded and watched the other man spray his daughter's head down with detangler before gently working a comb through the tangles, secretly pleased at the approval of his parenting. He looked over where Nyota was watching Julian and Demora play while helping Pavel feed Petra and Piper, Hikaru trying to teach the two three year olds a game involving plastic sticks he had dumped on the picnic table in a pile. He was just formulating a greeting and a conversation starter in order to engage the attractive woman when they were all distracted by a familiar commotion.

“Phineas! Pillius! Get down from that! For the sake of all that's holy, Douglas, would you put down that damn comm for one minute and help me get your little brothers!”

They watched as the fifteen year old Douglas rolled his eyes, but did as his father said and chased after his five year old brother while their father wrestled the ten year old off the monkey bars. Both children were screaming with laughter while father and oldest son were cursing a blue streak, prompting the other parents whose kids liked to repeat everything they heard to cover their children's ears. The McCoys just rolled their eyes at each other and shared indulgent smiles.

“Looks like Phineas, Phillius and Felonious are on fire today,” Leonard remarked, going back to T'Laura's hair.

“Leo,” Nyota hissed at him, but was having trouble hiding a smile. “Don't call Douglas that.”

“Hey, I got the nickname from his own dad,” Leonard defended himself. “And I'll be calling him by a number if he steals my damn wallet again.”

“Dad!”

“Sorry, Jojo.”

“Oh, you want to go live with your mum?” they heard Scotty saying to his scowling oldest in a tone that said he'd had enough. “I'll send you right to her, just as soon as there's another transport to the frontier. By then, you'll be old enough to buy your own passage and you won't need me to sign off on you going!”

Montgomery Scott had thought he and his wife Meghan had a good marriage and a happy family, but just the year before she had served him with divorce papers and joined a transport of pioneers heading out to colonize the deepest reaches of space, saying 'there had to be more to life than this.' Scott had been in turn angry and heartbroken, for himself and his children. How do you tell three boys their mother loves them when her own actions said the opposite? The little boys had cried for days, the older one, far too aware of what was going on, oscillated between locking himself in his room in a sullen silence and crying that he wanted to go with his mum.

The divorce went through on the grounds of abandonment and Scotty got sole custody of his children. Even if their mother came back the next day, she would have no more rights to the boys than any stranger on the street. But he knew he'd let her back into their lives, for the boys' sake alone, if she did manage to come back. Some days he wished she would. More and more as time passed, he hoped she didn't. He didn't want to take the chance of her pulling the same crap and hurting them all over again.

“Hey guys!” Hikaru called to the two younger boys. “I've got a game over here Demora and Julian got bored with. Wanna play?”

The two little boys, both as red headed as their father, ran over in their perpetual excitement.

“Pick up sticks?” Scott said with some trepidation. “Boys, either of you stab anyone with those and we will not be going for pizza tonight.”

“Yes sir!” they said in near unison.

“Seriously, man,” McCoy said in way of greeting to him, “do you give them coffee in the mornings?”

“Ah, hell no,” he sighed in exhaustion, sitting down side by side with Douglas. “No caffeine, no sugar... they're lucky I said yes to the pizza party we're all having tonight. They love pepperoni, but I worry about too much processed meat in their diet.”

“It's not like it used to be,” McCoy laughed. “Pepperoni is as safe as farm grown chicken.”

“I know, I know, but any chance something might make them more hyper than they are, I avoid it.”

To no one's surprise, Douglas leaned into his father, putting his head on his shoulder. Scott wrapped an arm around him kissed the top of his head.

“I'm sorry for all the screaming, again,” he said sincerely to his son. “I mean it, I'd send you out to that colony your mum's on if I could. I'd hate losing you, too, but I know you miss her.”

“It's OK, dad,” the young man replied quietly. “I didn't mean it. I'd miss you just as much if you weren't around. At least you want me here.”

Scott's heart broke just a little more and he squeezed his son a little tighter, but he had nothing to say to that, no reassurances. He did want all of his kids and Meghan clearly hadn't wanted any of them.

Leonard pulled his attention away from the family drama happening next to him and back to the little girl in front of him, willing his eyes not to water. He had had a happy marriage, he and his wife completely in love and talking about having another child. He couldn't imagine what Scott was going through. He used to think it would have been better if Jocelyn had left him voluntarily, but selfishly, he was grateful that he could tell their daughter her mother hadn't wanted to leave, that she would still be with them if she could.

“Oh, there he is!” Nyota suddenly announced, distracting everyone from what they had been doing.

Leonard looked up to see a golden god of a man walking towards them, a smaller version of himself propped on his hip. Bright blue eyes crinkled in a smile as he waved at Nyota. Leonard only barely noticed when T'Laura went back to her father, seeking his protection as a person she didn't know approached their group; he was too busy being dazzled by the sun glinting off the top of the new man's head. He managed to get a hold of himself in time for Nyota to start the introductions.

“Everyone, this is Jim Kirk and his son David. Jim, David, this is Spock and T'Laura, Leonard and Joanna, Hikaru and Demora, Pavel and Petra and Piper, and Montgomery, though we call him Scotty, and Phineas, Phillius and Felo-Douglas!”

Nyota continued to smile while glaring at Leonard from the corner of her eye for him causing her slip. He didn't know how she did it. Scotty, on the other hand, snorted in barely contained laughter and Douglas just rolled his eyes.

“I said I was sorry,” he huffed. “And I've stopped stealing.”

“I know you have, son,” Scott grinned, ruffling the petulant teen's hair. “But you gotta admit, it's funny.”

“It's nice to meet everyone,” he smiled, setting David down. “I'm sure Ny told you guys we just moved here. Thanks for including us in your group.”

“Our pleasure,” Leonard stepped up, shaking Kirk's hand. He practically tripped trying to get to him, then had to tear himself away from staring into his eyes. And boy did he have a firm grip. “You've got all our numbers on group chat. Let me know if there's anything you need help with, anything at all.”

“Thanks, I will,” Jim smiled back, showing off a row of gorgeous teeth.

“Great,” Nyota clapped her hands, breaking into the new silence and making Leonard aware he still had a grip on the new guy's hand. He let go quickly. “Now that everyone's here, let's let Jim get to know us. All of us.”

Leonard could feel his face burning.


	2. Two

“Seriously?” Scotty muttered and slid out of his seat, heading towards the ball pit. “It's not even the wee one misbehaving. Phineas! Get down! Ya play inside it, not outside!”

Everyone shook their heads with fond smiles and outright laughter. Leonard shot the other man a sympathetic look, but didn't find it near as funny as everyone else.

“Does he need help?” Jim, who was sitting next to him asked.

After embarrassing himself at the park that morning, Leonard had decided that he wouldn't make a spectacle of himself at the pizza joint that night. He wouldn't show up early and hang around trying to get a seat next to Jim. He'd get there on time and take whatever seat was available. He'd act normal. When he got there, Nyota was directing traffic in a more controling manner than usual, sitting people in an order that allowed for smooth conversation and easy access to their children (according to her). She spotted him, grabbed him, and sat him firmly next to Jim.

“You're my second in command,” she had explained with a wink. “I need you to be available to help Jim and David if they need it.”

Bless that woman, she always had his back.

“He needs all the help he can get,” Leonard sighed. “Oh, you mean right now? Nah, he's got this.”

“What did you mean, though? He needs all the help he can get?”

Leonard proceeded to explain to Jim how Scott had become a single dad and the way the children were acting out.

“It's better than it has been,” he admitted. “Douglas used to steal everything that wasn't nailed down, but he stopped doing that before it got him in more serious trouble than me snatching him up by his scruff and taking him to his dad when he pinched my wallet.”

“Huh,” Jim non-commented, chewing a mouthful of pizza before turning back to Leonard. “Ny said we get together Fridays after school and then come here in the evening. Is that it?”

“Well, we have different schedules, so we don't get together as an entire group more often than once a week. But we do meet in other groupings. Ny, Hikaru and Spock have children around the same ages, so they get together a little more often. Ny picks up Scotty's youngest for that. When you seperate them, they're easier to handle, which is why he'll drop off the youngest at his sister's and hang out with me and Joanna with the older two. And we all take turns going over to Pavel's and helping with the girls.”

“Yeah, Nyota told me about that,” he sighed, looking over at the dazed young man. “I'm willing to take a turn, too, but he doesn't know me, yet, and I don't think he'll let me handle the babies.”

“It won't be a problem,” Leonard shook his head. “None of us have really gotten to know the kid. So long as he doesn't see you as a threat, and you're a part of our group now so he won't, he won't even really notice if you've got one of them.”

“Yeah. The girls are only six weeks old and because of his youth and his lack of family, social services provided him with parenting assistance, giving him classes and in home help for a few days when he brought the girls home from the hospital. Seems he was all enthusiastic until he actually had the girls, then he shut down. His home helper noticed and called in his case worker, so now he gets home visits and they're keeping a close eye on him. Ironically, if he had never accepted their offer of help in the first place, they would have shrugged their shoulders and he wouldn't be under investigation. That said, they've been good to him, found him a support system. The case worker has outright said that even he stays like that, which she doesn't think he will, she has no interest in taking the girls. He does take care of them – they cry, he's there – and he has help now.”

“That's good. Can I go with you next time you go?”

“Sure. Monday after school good for you? We'll make sure Pavel's doing OK at home then load him and the kids up and take everyone for ice cream, if that's OK?”

“Sounds good, actually.”

He knew it wasn't about him, but Leonard couldn't help but feel excited about going out with Jim.

*~*~*~*

At the other end of the table, Spock had his attention split between watching T'Laura being helped down the slide by Joanna and Nyota chatting with Hikaru. He had actually joined in their conversation while Hikaru was presenting his 'evidence' that the New Vulcan colony had been founded and was being led by a Vulcan from the future who had gotten caught up with the time traveling Romulans and he was actually existing in their reality with his younger self. Surprisingly, Spock actually found the evidence compelling, if Hikaru could verify it's origin.

Now they were discussing the pre-school program their children attended together. T'Laura was already in her first year of school, though he could interject every now and then information he had from the year before when she had attended the same class. Otherwise, he had nothing to add. Scotty managed to wrestle his child off the outside of the ball pit and Spock went to turn back to the conversation happening next to him when a high pitched shriek had everyone turning back to the play area.

“T'Laura, stop!”

His little girl, not as strong as a Vulcan child her age but stronger than the Human children around her, had two fist fulls of Joanna's hair and was holding on despite the other girl's struggling and yelling. 

“T'Laura!” Spock shouted as he and the other adults ran towards the fighting children. “Hold still, Joanna, I have her.”

Spock gently pressed pressure points on the litle girl's wrists and her fingers relaxed, letting go of the other. Leonard quickly pulled Joann to him and inspected her scalp.

“She's OK,” he announced, much to everyone's relief. “Just stings. Sweetheart, what was that all about?” he asked the younger child.

“She hates me!” T'Laura cried. “She's only playing with me 'cause you make her!”

“That's not true,” Joanna protested angrily, rubbing her head. “I never said anything, she just started yelling and grabbed me!”

“I will get to the bottom of this,” Spock promised. “I am truly sorry, Leonard.”

“It's OK, Spock, children scrap. Just take her home and try and figure out what's wrong, why she feels like that. Me and Joanna will talk more at home, too.”

“I didn't do anything,” Joanna protested again.

“That doesn't mean we can't talk, Jojo.”

“OK.”

“Spock,” Nyota said from behind his shoulder. “Come on, I'll pack up some pizza for you two and help you out. Hikaru, can you take Julian for a few minutes?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you, Nyota,” Spock nodded and followed her carrying his still crying daughter.

After Nyota walked the other two out and things calmed down, Jim turned to Leonard with a slightly traumatized look on his face.

“Is that normal?”

“No, it's not,” he frowned, concerned. “She's always been a little high spirited, but in a good way. I'm gonna call Spock tonight. I think he needs even more help than Scotty.”

Jim nodded, watching David and Demora race each other to the ball pit and then jump in. Julian dashed after them while Joanna began playing hide and seek through the tunnels with the Scott boys, Douglas actually laughing as he helped his youngest brother cheat at finding the two older children.

“You really came at a great time,” Leonard said to him with lighthearted sarcasm.

“No kidding,” he laughed.

From behind them they heard two small wails and a tired voice.

“Why are you both crying at the same time?”

They looked over their shoulders to see Pavel bent over the twins' stroller, checking diapers and then rummaging for bottles.

“Wanna hold a baby?” Leonard asked.

“Well, it's been awhile, but if he doesn't mind...”

“Pavel, can Jim help you feed them?” Leonard asked.

“Yes, oh my god, yes.”

“The trick is,” Leonard whispered as they rose and worked their way over to the younger man, “just help. Let him do the actual work.”

“Got it.”

*~*~*~*

Nyota helped Spock get the food and T'Laura into his ground car. The little girl had calmed down in her father's hold and actually let him strap her into her booster seat without a struggle. Ny opened the passenger front door and set the containers down in the seat.

“Spock,” she said, laying a hand on his shoulder, after he closed the door. “Are you going to be alright alone?”

“I will be find,” he said gently, taking her hand. With the brief contact he felt her concern and affection for him. It made him bolder. “T'Laura needs to rest and I was going to call her babysitter, Mrs. O'Brian, to come over to watch her for while I go to the farmer's market. I have recently learned that when she throws a tantrum, she's really asking for alone time. I, however, would like company. Would you go with me tomorrow?”

“Sure,” she immediately agreed, then caught herself. “Well, if Hikaru doesn't mind having them alone tomorrow. We were going to take Demora and Julian to the park.”

“I understand,” he said, disappointment firmly hidden.

“I'm going to ask, though,” she said. “You know what, I bet Jim and David would go with him. I'll let you tonight when I find out.”

“I look forward to hearing from you.”

“Goodnight, Spock.”

“Goodnight.”

Spock got into his vehicle and checked on T'Laura in the rear view mirror. Sound asleep. He backed out and headed home, thinking of his daughter's outburst, his conversation with Leonard about it, and his possible date with Nyota the next day. He could only hope that all would have positive results.

*~*~*~*

When Nyota walked back in she was happy to see Pavel actually talking to Jim and Leonard. Pavel was holding one baby and explaining to Jim how to hold the other and feed her properly from a bottle. Nyota smirked a little, doubting that Jim had forgotten how to hold and feed a baby in the time that his own child had outgrown bottles. She sat herself down next to him and motioned for Hikaru to join them. Everyone at the table looked at her curiously.

“Hikaru,” she started, using her best 'all business, nothing to see here' voice. “I know we planned to take our kids to the park tomorrow, but would you mind taking Demora and Julian and going without me? Spock asked for some company at the farmer's market.”

“Whoa, ho, ho,” Leonard chortled, not buying her casual demeanor for a moment. “You guys are going without a gaggle of children? You're not just inviting Hikaru to go with the two of you? Is this a date?”

“No, it's not a date,” she defended herself. “He's having a rough time and needed some adult only interaction.”

“Adult, huh?”

“Let's talk about your love life,” she shot back. “Meet anyone interesting lately?”

“So, Hikaru, you can handle those two by yourself, they're a piece of cake,” Leonard hurriedly redirected.

“Actually, I was just about to ask you if you minded if we took Phineas with us,” Hikaru responded with an apologetic tone. “Phillius only just told Scotty that his science fair project made it to the finals and he has to go to school tomorrow for the judging. Phineas can't be trusted in that environment, especially since Scotty already told Douglas he could hang out with friends.”

“I can go,” Jim announced, just as Nyota hoped. “It'll fun. What better way to get to know a guy than run after four kids together? Hey, Leo, you busy tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I am,” he said with genuine disappointment. “Joanna's in that same science fair.”

“I'll talk to Scotty,” Hikaru smiled, noticing how Leonard was looking at the new guy and smelling romance in the air for not just Ny and Spock. “I bet we can all meet up after the fair.”

“I'd like that.”

“Me, too,” Jim agreed and gave a dazzling smile that seemed to be only for Leonard.

*~*~*~*

They wrapped up the gathering not much later, smaller children needing sleep and the parents needing to put their feet up after taking turns running after each other's kids. Scotty left holding a sleeping Phineas while Douglas was steering a sleepy Phillius out of the door. Both Jim and Hikaru offered to help with the clean up, but they also had their arms full of sleeping children so Leonard and Nyota, whose own children hadn't succumbed to exhaustion, waved them out the door with Pavel, who they knew would be active and aware right up to the point he got the babies into bed.

“He likes you,” Nyota singsonged at Leonard as they cleaned up paper cups and plates, the kids helping them shove them into the recycler the restaurant had for their customers. 

“I think he does, too,” Leonard agreed without embarrassment. Now that it was just the two of them, he actually wanted to talk about his crush on Jim. “He's going with me on Monday to Pavel's. I'm thinking of asking him out on an actual date after that. But, I gotta ask, what's the story with David's mother? He hasn't said.”

“I was hoping he'd bring it up at the park today,” she admitted, “but since he didn't I didn't say anything. But, if you're wanting to ask him out... his wife, Carol, died the same day yours did.”

“Well, shit,” Leonard sighed. “Both Vengeance widowers, huh? Not something I wanted to have in common with him. It's hardly a conversation started.”

“Maybe, but I think you should still ask him out.”

“I am. He's the first person I've been interested in since I lost Joce. How about you? Ready to admit tomorrow's a date?”

“Yeah,” she said shyly. “I let him know I could make it and he offered to buy lunch, too. I think it's really, finally happening.”

“I hope so,” Leonard agreed. “You two deserve some happiness. Hell, all of us do.”

“I couldn't agree more, Leo.”


	3. Three

It was definitely a date. Nyota met Spock at the farmer's market, wearing an actual sundress, and feeling more feminine than she had in a year. Spock had that pleased not-smile he got when he seemed happy as he saw her and quickly stepped to her side.

“I'm glad you could make it,” he said and held his arm out to her to take. “You look very nice today. Yellow suits you.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, knowing he might as well have said 'you're stunning.' “You look very nice today, too. It's good to be able to wear something that you're not afraid a child is going to spill something on, isn't it?”

“Indeed,” he agreed with a raised eyebrow and a glance down at his long sleeved white button down that he had rolled up to just below his elbows, allowing Uhura to hold his arm without making contact with bare skin.

They wandered around for a bit, making light conversation and inspecting what was on offer before circling around again and actually making purchases, placing fruits and vegetables into the fabric sacks they had brought. That done, they purchased lemonades, Spock insisting on paying for both, before wandering towards the strip of indoor shops and restaurants just beyond the outdoor market. They finished their drinks before entering the vegetarian place they had chosen and put them in the receptacle for recycling.

“Jim seems to be getting along with the group already,” Spock commented as they looked over their menus.

“Jealous?” Nyota responded, only half teasing.

“Well, my own early reception wasn't met nearly as well by Dr. McCoy,” he admitted, clearly humored, at least clearly to the woman across from him.

“It was still too soon after the Vengeance,” she agreed, “and he didn't want to jump you.”

“For that, I am grateful. He's not my type. He seems to have a 'thing' for blonds. Personally, I prefer brunettes.”

Spock had given her the short not-smile again over the menu, clearly making a joke.

“Well, I'm brunette all over,” she tried joking back.

Spock turned bright green at the same time as she clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes growing impossibly wide. Then she burst out laughing.

“That did not come out the way I meant it,” she said between laughs. “It wasn't supposed to sound dirty, just, I don't know, I meant my skin is dark is all.”

“I realize,” Spock responded, hiding a little behind his menu, trying not to seem obvious that was what he was doing, but being completely obvious. “Unfortunately, my mind went where it should not have before my sense caught up to me.”

“Oh my god,” she breathed, still giggling. “We're horrible at this.”

“Yes,” he said, finally putting his menu down. “Therefore, we need more practice. Until we are not so horrible.”

“I completely agree.”

*~*~*~*

The park with Jim and Hikaru was not, however, a date. It was hell. And everyone was behaving.

“Why did I think four five and unders would be a cakewalk with two of us?”

“Because we see them asleep and our brains reset, thinking they're angels,” Hikaru laughed as he collapsed on the bench beside Jim, watching the children playing on the pirate ship shaped jungle gym.

Phineas had scaled to the crow's nest, a grand two feet off the ground, and everyone had fallen in line, playing pirates at his direction. It was cute, but they had already had to break up one crying fit over power dynamics when Demora was telling them how to play and Phineas wanted to change games. Jim knew it wouldn't be long before his own son would want a chance to be in charge of the game and more tears were going to be shed.

“How are you doing, really?” Hikaru asked now that they had a minute.

“As well as can be expected, I guess,” Jim answered truthfully. He didn't really know any of these people, but... “She said it was fine, but I hope it's OK that Ny told me... you lost a spouse during the Vengeance crash as well?”

“Yeah, it's fine. She told us a little about you, too. We always get the run down on a new member, so we don't bring up stuff that might be upsetting. I think that rule might be mostly for me,” he admitted, sheepishly. “But yeah, Mara was my ex-wife, but we still thankfully got along. She was a member of Starfleet. It's how I met her, here in San Francisco, but she got transferred to the Kelvin Memorial Archives in London, just three months before the explosion.”

“I'm so sorry. Was Demora in London at the time?”

“Yeah. I had to take an express shuttle. Worst two hours of my life, trying to get to my little girl, not knowing exactly who was caring for her or what was going on, how much she knew. She was OK, of course, but confused and a little scared.”

“I get that,” Jim nodded, watching David try to navigate a swinging bridge. “Carol was actually on the Vengeance. I still don't know how that happened. One day she's leaving for work, then I'm getting a frantic call that she has to board the Enterprise and she can't contact me, that she needs me to have her back and not alert anyone that she's not on Earth. Then she's dead, my father in law's dead and disgraced... and no one can tell me what happened.”

“Wait,” Hikaru looked over at him with wide eyes. “Who was Carol's father?”

“Admiral Marcus,” Jim smirked at him. “Ny told me to be careful what I talk to you about, that you're a conspiracy nut. But you know what? I believe in Section 31 and I think pops was in charge of it. Carol worked on classified shit all the time, mostly weapons. I don't know, but I get the feeling that that had something to do with why she just took off. She wouldn't just do that, not normally, not to me and David.”

“My god, I was being so careful around you,” Hikaru breathed, brightening up but not losing his serious air. “No body believes Lewis exists, but he does and one of these days he's promised to meet with me in person, he's just really busy with an important project he's not able to discuss yet. But he says that the London Archive wasn't what it seemed to be.”

“It couldn't have been,” Jim agreed, also becoming enthusiastic about the subject. “Why would anyone blow up a library? All the information is public.”

“Exactly. Lewis says that's where Section 31's research labs were.”

“Oh my god, that makes so much sense.”

“Do you like Leonard?”

“What?” Jim nearly got whiplash with that sudden change in subject.

“I'm just saying, if you want a shot at dating him, don't bring this stuff up. He tolerates it from me, but I don't know if he'd want to date you if you're talking about it, too.”

“He lost his wife on the same day I lost mine, didn't he?” Jim asked, a lot more subdued.

“Yeah,” Hikaru nodded. “We all deal with it differently. He just kind of shut down, I've heard. If it wasn't for Joanna, he might have ended up in the bottom of a bottle, or in Starfleet, but he doesn't like talking about it. I can talk about time traveling Romulans and whatever, but not about the day the Vengeance crashed, not in the context of conspiracies, that is.”

“I can see that,” Jim sighed, watching as Julian chased a laughing Demora up two steps and off the gang plank. “Joanna's a bit older than ours. I can't imagine that made it any easier.”

“In some ways, it might have. She would have understood that her mother wasn't coming back better than Demora did. It took days for her to understand and then she was inconsolable. But I bet her understanding better was also harder on Leonard.”

They both sat quietly for a moment, Jim noticing signs that David was about to become a menace but deciding to let it play out and not intervene too soon.

“Does David remember Carol?” Hikaru suddenly asked.

“Not that well,” Jim answered, feeling a lump form in his throat. “He was carrying around a picture of her. He doesn't do that as much anymore. I think he's forgetting her.”

“Demora doesn't remember. She was only two. I have to tell her who the woman in the pictures is.”

They both sat, fighting back their emotions. David calmed himself without interference, much to Jim's pride. The children seamlessly changed leadership over to Julian and started a new game. Jim turned to look at Hikaru once he felt it was safe.

“Time traveling Romulans?”

*~*~*~*

Scotty put down the fire suppressant canister and gave the singed and angry looking judge a shrug.

“Ya gotta admit, it was a great idea. Too bad it over heated.”

“Did you help your son with this project, Mr. Scott?” the judge asked with an air of imperialism.

“What? How dare you! I haven't set a fire with anything I've built in years!”

The judge rolled his eyes and handed Phillius Scott the second place ribbon. It had run successfully the first time.

“Now, Scotty, you just about set my kitchen on fire last month,” Leonard said quietly to him as they watched the rest of the awards being presented.

“I didn't build that coffee maker,” he defended himself. “I was just trying to fix it.”

“Fair enough.”

“I got fifth place,” Joanna announced as she walked over to her dad, looking for all the world like someone had kicked her puppy. “That's last place.”

“And last year?” her father prompted, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I didn't place at all.”

“See! You're getting better.”

“I guess.”

“Alright, McCoys, we're ready to go meet Hikaru and Jim for lunch,” Scotty announced after a brief but slightly heated conversation with Phillius about not bragging or complaining about his second place prize in front of Joanna. At least until she got over her hurt feelings a little.

“Please, get me out of here,” Leonard agreed. “I think that kid built a reactor.”

“Nah, it's an ice cream maker,” Scotty assure him, squinting at the large cylindrical machine Leonard was giving a wide berth. “But it might be using plutonium as its power source.”

Leonard gave him a horrified look which caused him to laugh.

“I'm kidding! It's plugged into the wall. They're children. Where do you think they'd get radioactive materials from?”

“You could get some.”

“Yeah, but if I was the type who would give children radioactive materials to play with, I don't think I would have passed the psych evaluation.”

“Yoo-hoo! Dr. McCoy!”

The two fathers and their children stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of a shrill voice and slapping sandals. Leonard, eyes wide, didn't turn right away, just shot Scotty a look more terrified than when he thought a kid might have a plutonium powered reactor.

“We didn't get out of here fast enough,” he stage whispered, then turned around. “Mrs. Bailey. How can I help you?”

“It's Ms,” she simpered. “And you can call me Ansley.”

“I'd rather not. What was it you needed? We were just leaving.”

“The committee for next year's science fair is forming,” she smiled widely, showing teeth with a little bit of her garish purple lipstick on them. Leonard couldn't help sucking on his own teeth, hoping she'd get the hint. She didn't. “I was hoping you'd sign on. You'd make a wonderful judge.”

“What about me?” Scott asked, sticking his head between his traumatized friend and the overly made up woman who was always hitting on him. “I'm actually an engineer.”

“We already have an engineer as a judge, Mr. Scott,” she answered coolly, trying to look around his head to make eye contact with the doctor again.

“Yeah, one who's afraid of a little fire. Can't take a singing without whining about his eyebrows. You know how many times I've lost my eyebrows and just laughed it off? Tell her, sweetheart,” he suddenly said to Leonard and stepped back next to him, throwing an arm over his shoulders. “Remember the last time? I was meeting your mum and you were all like 'what happened to your eyebrows?' And I was like 'it was just a wee explosion in the lab.' And then you said 'I think you're still dead sexy but my mum isn't gonna like it.' Well, I guess you had to be there.”

“I'm not going to have time,” Leonard finally interjected, once he got over the shock of what was going on. “What with... introducing him to my mamma... now that his eyebrows have grown.... we have to go! We're going to be late!”

They practically ran from a very confused Ms. Bailey.

“Now, Phillius,” Scotty began once they were all in the vehicle and strapped in. “I'm not actually dating Dr. McCoy. I was just helping him out of an awkward situation.”

“By making it more awkward,” Leonard said from the passenger seat. He was shaking his head, but there was a small, humored smile on his face.

“Oh, I know, dad,” the young boy answered. “You were just helping him get away from Clown Lady.”

“Phil! Don't call her that,” his father scolded him.

“But you do!”

“Not outside of the house where someone could hear me, I don't.”

*~*~*~*

By the time Scott and McCoy arrived to the kid friendly restaurant, Kirk and Sulu were there, four tired out children starting to nod off into their kid's meals. The other's got their food and quietly joined them in an attempt not to rile the younger ones up again. Phillius and Joanna both bolted their food down while their scandalized fathers watched before asking to go to the play area. They were both waved off.

“I'm shocked they didn't choke,” Leonard groused as he stabbed his salad.

“I'm just happy mine chewed a little,” Scotty sighed. “I've seen him swallow food whole.”

“Were you like that as a kid?” Jim asked as he moved David's half empty plate from under his head so he could actually lay down.

“Oh, yes,” Scotty answered with more pride than the others thought that warranted. “Mum said I was an uncivilized animal fit for a cage.”

“Ah, if only we were allowed to cage them,” Leonard gave an exaggerated sigh, mostly joking. “But enjoy them this little, guys. It doesn't last forever.”

“You're a saw bones,” Jim smiled. “Can't you come up with a pill to keep them little?”

“A saw bones?” Leonard laughed, showing off his dimples and instantly gaining even more of Jim's attention. “Haven't heard that one, though it's fitting. No, I wish I could. I'd have kept Joanna three forever. She was perfect at three. At least, I remember her that way. I'm sure she was a pain.”

“But it breaks your heart to see them growing up,” Jim agreed, “despite them being pains.”

“Here's to all our little pains,” Hikaru said, lifting his paper cup. “May they keep breaking our hearts.”

“Here here,” the others replied in low voices, lifting their cups to join his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not done, but working on it. Should have another chapter posted next week.


End file.
